Vacuum cleaner dust bag



April 3, 1951 A. H. BEEDE 2,547,805

VACUUM CLEANER DUST BAG Filed April 11, 1945 l 1 l l V INVENTOR. y 5% Patented Apr. 3, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT orrics 2,547,805 VACUUM CLEANER DUST BAG Arnold H. Beedc, Stamford, Conn, assignor to Electrolux Corporation, Old Greenwich, Conn, a corporation of Delaware Application April 11, 1945, Serial No. 587,756

3 Claims.

This invention relates to vacuum cleaners and is particularly concerned with dust receptacles and the mounting and attaching means therefore together with the structural features of the cleaner which cooperate with the dust receptacle.

The final disposal of dust and dirt which has been entrained by air flowing through suction cleaners and separated from such air by means forming part of the cleaner has long been a problem. In the majority of such cleaners now in use, the foreign matter is filtered from the air flow by porous cloth bags which are either supported from the handle of such devices or are mounted within a casing forming part of a motor fan unit. During the cleaning action such flexible bags or receptacles load up with dust and dirt, the interstices of the fabric becoming clogged with particles of foreign matter, thus greatly impeding the air flow and the effective filtering area of the bag. Frequent emptying of the receptacle is therefore a requisite for the maintenance of the best cleaning efiiciency.

The emptying of such bags is always a nuisance and is often a tedious and precarious operation. Some of the dust may sift through'the mesh of the fabric during handling or be spilled from the open mouth of the receptacle, thus soiling the hands and clothing of the operator and such fine dust and particles of dirt are readily disturbed by air currents and may be scattered about during transfer to a disposable container. Further more, it is necessary in order to insure top efiiciency of the cleaning operation upon return of the bag, to remove all the accumulated foreign matter from the interstices as well as the loose dirt within the bag. This can only be accomplished by agitation of the bag and/or a reverse fiow of air through the bag, both of which are recommended in an effort to restore top cleaning efficiency and both of which require considerable care and delicacy if scattering of the dirt and scaling of the operator is to be avoided.

2 expeditious disposal of collected dust and dir from the suction cleaner while overcoming the objections enumerated above.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an inexpensive disposable bag of adequate strength and porosity which may be readily applied and removed from the cleaner and which is provided with a suitable closure which prevents accidental discharge of dirt after removal from the cleaner.

It is among the further objects of the invention to provide a self-closing dust receptacle for vacuum cleaners of such nature that upon disengagement 7 from the suction passage of the machine the receptacle will be automatically fully sealed to prevent the emission of intrapped dust and foreign matter.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved mounting means for dust receptacles which will insure an adequate seal between the receptacle and the suction passage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mounting for a dust receptacle such as to substantially eliminate undue strain on the receptacle and thus avoid danger of tearing or rupturing the receptacle during the cleaning operation.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cleaner and dust receptacle combination having resilient securing means which may be readily actuated to apply and secure the parts in assembled relation without requiring the manipulation of mechanical securing means.

Other objects of the invention include the provision of a self-closing dust receptacle, the selfclosing features of which are used both to secure the mouth of the receptacle closed when the receptacle is removed from the cleaner and also to secure the mouth of the receptacle in sealing contact with the suction passage of the cleaner.

Numerous other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the consideration of the following specification taken in conjunction concept is disclosed as applied to a tank type cleaner which is characterized by the provision of a normally stationary structure, housing a motor fan unit and a dust receptacle. Such devices conventionally employ an end closure plate having a suction opening communicating with the dust receptacle. Externally the opening communicates with a suction hose to which cleaning tools may be selectively applied. It will, of course, be understood that the present invention is in no way limited to this particular type of cleaner and various features of the present inventive concept are equally applicable to cleaners of the bag-onhandle type in which the dust receptacle is supported externally of housing for the motor and fan unit.

In brief, the present inventive concept may be defined as the provision of a dust bag, preferably of readily disposable inexpensive material such as paper and which is provided with a self -closing mouth. The self-closing characteristics of the bag mouth are provided by a pair of spring members which normally lie in fiat parallel relation and are attached to the upper edges of the mouth of the bag so as to retain such edges in intimate contact to preclude the escape of entrapped. dirt therefrom. The inventive concept further includes the provision of an internal suction passage of such external contour as to conform to the shape of the bag opening when the spring members thereof are forced to diverge, thus permitting the securement of the bag by resilient pressure in snug air tight and sealing relation with the suction passage, the spring action of the members acting as the securing means for retaining the receptacle in position on such passage.

The inventive concept further embraces the provision of means for supporting the receptacle against undue strain caused by the rapid flow of air therethrough. An important feature of the invention which follows from the above briefly outlined concept is that a bag may be attached to the suction passage while such passage is disconnected from the suction chamber so that the attachment may be easily and conveniently completed. The arrangement further provides for the removal of the bag from the passage and the self-closing of the bag as an incident to the disengagement of the cover from the suction cleaner.

Referring now to the drawings, Id indicates a vacuum cleaner casing housing an electric motor fan unit I I, a dust separating member including a cloth bag I2 and the paper dust bag I3 of the present invention being located within the cloth bag I2. The motor fan unit II produces a flow of air from left to right through the casing I8, as shown in Fig. 1, drawing air in through a flexible hose I4 connected in the inlet opening of afront cover I5. When suction is applied the rear end of the cloth bag I2 is drawn against a per forated plate I6 disposed across the casing ID ahead of the motor fan unit II. When the machine is in operation air enters casing Ill with entrained dust and dirt removed from a rug or other surface bein cleaned. The dust and dirt is separated from the air as it passes through the paper bag I3 and the cleaned air flows through the cloth bag I2 and out through the rear end of the housing II].

As noted in Fig. 1 it will be seen that the cloth bag I2 is secured in the housing It; by engagement with a gasket I! mounted between the housing I 0 and the front cover I5. The paper receptacle I3, however, is secured on the front cover I5 independently of the housing I0 by engagement with an internal boss I8 surrounding the suction opening. The boss I8 is of an external configuration conforming to the configuration of the receptacle opening when the springs of the mouth thereof are distended as hereinafter discussed. With such configuration of the boss I8 the selfclosing tendency of the bag mouth will act to resiliently retain the bag in sealing contact with the boss.

The bag body I9 which is preferably formed of porous paper or other light inexpensive material is of substantially rectangular cross section when in distended position. In folded position two opposite sides, one of which is shown at 20, Fig. 3, of the bag are inwardly folded to form a flat folded bag. The folds of the sides extend upwardly to the mouth and are permanently joined to the adjacent sides at the bag mouth. The bag mouth 2 I extends between, and is folded outwardly down and around a pair of spring strips 22, the outer fold being secured by a tape 23 or the like. The springs 22 extend beyond the edges of the mouth and are secured together therebeyond by clips 24. The externa1 joined ends of the strips 22 are pref erably spaced apart by spacers 25 which are in thickness equal to the combined thickness of the bag material lying between the strips 22, thus insuring a complete parallelism of the strips when the bag is in its normal closed position. Intermediate the ends of each strip 22 the bag mouth is provided with actuating tabs 26 which may be grasped and moved to exert transverse outward moments of force at the central intermediate portions of each strip.

As noted in Fig. 4, the strips are preferably preformed with a matching convex curvature and thus when the ends are joined together there is a preloading of the spring towards a central contacting position which will insure a normal parallelism of the strips when the bag is closed and the bag mouth material lies therebetween.

By referring to Fig. 6, it will be noted that upon the application of outward force to the central portion of the spring strips 22 such central portions assume a parabolic curvature indicated at A in Fig. 6. Due to the securement of the ends of the spring together, however, the center parabolic curvature sweeps into lines of parallelism at the ends of the strip as indicated at B and intermediate points A and B there is a reverse curvature at the point C which radically changes the characteristics of the central curvature giving to the bag mouth when thus opened an irregular curvature which extends from the parallel ends to the central more regular type of curve.

As herein before stated, the exterior surface of the boss I8 of the front cover I5 is formed with a contour conforming with the curvature of the mouth of the bag when in open position and thus the mouth will snugly embrace the boss and be retained thereon by the spring tension of the strips 22. It is an important feature of the invention that the curvature of the boss terminates at its ends with a tangential inclination conforming to the tangential curving of the end of the strips which lie in parallelism. It will thus be noted that discrepancies in the d mension between a bag mouth and the boss I8 will be taken up by an extension of the bag material beyond the terminal ends of the boss and that such extending material will be sealed by the springs 22 and will not produce any pinching, folding or other venting type of surplusage around the central portion of the boss.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention provides a novel and improved disposable dust bag or receptacle for a vacuum cleaner and provides means for readily applying and removing the bag from the cleaner. It Jill be seen that the bag may be applied to the cover while it is removed from the cleaner and that by the application of the cover to the cleaner with the bag attached and with the suction fan running the bag will be automatically seated in operative position within the supported cloth bag. It will be also noted that upon removal of the cover while suction is steadily applied the cover will be detached from the bag and the bag will automatically close itself and provide a sealed dirt container which may be readily disposed of without danger of leakage, spilling or soiling of the operator.

It will, of course, be understood that the invention is in no way limited to the specific structure or details herein set forth and that the invention may be readily applied to various types of cleaners and numerous changes and modifications may be resorted to without departure from the spirit or scope of the invention as outlined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A dust collecting receptacle for vacuum cleaners comprising a body formed of porous material, a flexible mouth portion for said receptacle, and resilient means for normally restraining said mouth portion to closed position, said means comprising a pair of leaf springs disposed on either side of said mouth portion, said springs being preformed with matching longitudinally convex curvatures, and normally lying in substantially parallel planes with opposite sides of the mouth portion held in contact thereby, said springs being united at their ends beyond the edges of the mouth portion, and being spaced apart at their ends beyond the bag mouth a distance equal to the thickness of the mouth material therebetween.

2. In a vacuum cleaner, the combination with a suction opening of a wall structure defining said opening and a dust collecting receptacle comprising a body formed of porous material, a flexible mouth portion for said receptacle and a resilient means for normally restraining said mouth portion in closed position, said means comprising a pair of leaf springs disposed on either side of said mouth portion, said springs being preformed with matching longitudinally convex curvatures and normally lying in substantially parallel planes with opposite sides of the mouth portion held in contact therewith, said springs being united at their ends beyond the edges of the mouth portion and being spaced apart at their ends beyond the bag mouth a distance equal to the width of the mouth material therebetween, said springs being operable to retain the receptacle mouth in sealin engagement with the external surface of said wall structure.

3. In a vacuum cleaner, an inlet conduithaving an outer surface, a dust collecting bag of flexible porous material open at one end and a pair of leaf springs secured together at their ends and secured throughout the major portions of their lengths to the material of said bag adjacent to the open end thereof to normally retain said end closed, the central portions of said springs being separable from each other to provide an irregularly shaped opening, said outer surface of said conduit having a contour conforming to the shape of said opening and insertable thereinto to provide a substantially sealed connection between said conduit and the open end of the bag.

ARNOLD H. BEEDE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,224,842 Boyd May 1, 1917 1,727,921 Adams Sept. 10, 1929 1,805,174 Gudka May 12, 1931 2,040,271 Rosenzweig May 12, 1936 2,158,955 Blacher May 16, 1939 2,272,394 Armstrong Feb. 10, 1942 

